Are you getting the support you need as you navigate through these years?
Your support team, community or “tribe” are the people in your life who are available to you for practical, emotional and moral support.
Cultivating and maintaining a healthy support team helps us to better navigate the course our lives and helps us to feel connected, loved and valued.
A support team gives us the feeling that we are part of something bigger than our selves.
Did you know that your support team buffers you against the negative effects of stress and provides a multitude of psychological and physical benefits—while it improves your quality of life and leads to greater longevity?
Also, it’s been shown that the fastest way to get to your own happiness is to help someone else. Altruism begets happiness.
Do you sometimes isolate when feeling stressed or vulnerable?
Sometimes we retreat from others without even realizing that we’re doing so. The truth is that isolating or hiding out deepens feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety.
Our charge is to resist this temptation and remain engaged. Tapping into or creating a support system is without a doubt one of the most vital keys to health and well-being, even or especially during our darkest days.
The give and take that happens within a healthy support system helps to protect against the burn-out or chronic fatigue that comes with loneliness and disconnection.
We are social beings. We are happier and healthier when we stay connected with others. Our brains are built for social interaction.
Who’s on your support team?
The best of your support systems encompass the people in your life who can share in your joys, sorrows, accomplishments, challenges and losses.
Speaking freely with someone who cares, listens without judgment and ultimately gets you has a profound effect on your sense of self. Even when “answers” don’t emerge, sharing often helps to reshape the inner experience of a problem.
Each person in your network will offer their unique perspective and way of providing support. No one person can satisfy all of the needs of another.
So…it is incumbent upon us to cast a wide net to invite people into our lives so that we can tap into and enrich the multiple facets of ourselves.
For example, expecting that your partner can be all things at all times to you is a recipe for disappointment and conflict. The same is true with a best friend. It is always best to create a wide circle of relationships—for optimal support and joy.
Who ya gonna call?
I recommend that you hone in on your tribe and spend your precious time surrounding yourself with those members of your community that offer support, compassion, love – and let’s not forget fun!
What do you think makes for a great “tribe” or community of friends and loved ones?
